Archduke Franz Ferdinand was heir to the Habsburg Monarchy, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. On 28 June 1900 he married Countess Sophie Chotek. The Countess was too lowly placed for an imperial Habsburg marriage, so did not become her imperial highness, and their children did not have the right of succession. She was not allowed to sit by the Archduke’s side on public occasions.

Franz Ferdinand was irked, but there was one loophole – his wife could be by his side when he was acting in a military capacity as Inspector General of the army. Thus it was that, in 1914 on their 18th wedding anniversary, he inspected the Bosnian army in Sarajevo, in an open carriage with his wife by his side.

With hindsight this was not a good plan. Bosnia was recently acquired by the Habsburgs and there was unrest from young men who wanted it to join Serbia instead. Several conspired, aiming to assassinate the archduke. They were young and inexperienced and there were several blunders.

By accident the archduke’s chauffeur took a wrong turning and had to turn round. One of the conspirators just happened to be there, saw them and shot the couple. Thus began a World War that was only fully resolved 31 years later.

Did it all really begin by chance? Some would say otherwise.

This story is told at the beginning of AJP Taylor’s book ‘The First World War’, an engaging read first published in 1963. I well remember Taylor’s articles in the Daily Express around that time – he was one of the great popularisers of history and then very controversial.